Vehicles-tire.



8. A. DOUGLAS.

VEHICLE TIRE. I APPLIOATIOI I'ILBD JULY 17.1909.

Patented Nov. 8,, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN DOUGLAS, ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 CHARLES LEE ANDERSON, 0F ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA.

VEHICLE-TIRE.

Specification of IlettersPatent.

' Application filed Jur in, 1909. Serial No. 505,197.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN A. DoUGLAs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ardmore, in the county of Carter and State [of spring sections disposed radially around a w ee l-rim and in contact with one an other at the place of enga ement with the rim, and a spreader mem r, constructed and disposed in a novel and eflicient manner, Egronded to insure the maintenance of rele engagement of each section with the wheel-rim at all times and also to actl as a bufl'er to prevent breakage of the tire section on rough roads or when carrying excessivc loads.

The construction of the tire is such that may readily be ap lied-te wheel rimscommonly in use wit commercial rubber or other resilient tires, the necessity of chan in existing rims for its use being obviate en read in connection with the description herein, the. details of construction and arrangement of parts contemplated by the inventlon will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof,

wherein embodiments of the nvention are 4 disclosed, for purposes of illustration.

While the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings are. preferred, it is to be understood that the several-instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously organized, without departing in the least from the nature'and spirit of the invention,- and that the invention is not limited to the exact delineations herein made.

Likereference-characters refer to corres onding parts in the several views of the rawings, of which Figure 1 is a sectional view of one of, the tire-sections taken -transversely of the wheel-rim; 2 is asectional view, on the ridgles line 2z, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of a segment of a wheel having the tire applied thereto; Fig. 4 1s a plan view illustrative of Patented NOV. 8, 1910. i

an oblique arrangement of tire -sections.

Fig. 5 is a detailvviewof an oblique tireview of a tire-section with plural supports; and Fig. 7 is a view of a segment of a wheel having -this"1atter form a plied thereto. Referringmore particu arly tothe drawngs, 8 designates a form of wheel-rim, havmg inwardly projecting flanges 9, such as commonly used on automobiles and other road-vehicles. r

A series of spring'metal hollow sections 10, outwardly curved to approximate the tube-like formation of a rubber tire and of similar width' throughout, are disposed around the rim and constitute the outer por of the tire thereof, these sections abut- 1n sii tly hseparatedatthe periphery of'the tire. e tread portion of eachsection is comparativelythic'k to withstand wear, and the sides are; gradually reduced in thickness for the purpose of resiliency. The sides of each section-are bent outwardly to form of t e rim, the section having a spring tendenc'y to spread and to force the ridges agalnst the flanges to retain it on the wheelriin. The material of each section on each side then is continued downwardly from the ridge and inwardly and upwardly-to bring the edge of the material against the inner surface of the section opposite or about opposits to the ridge 11, whereby beads 12 are fopmed. of which beads the ridges 11 may be considered as a part.

, While the spring tendency of the tire sections to wedge its beads against the sides of the rim'is probably suflicient under normal conditions of service to reliably retain one another at the rim and being.

11, which engage under the flanges 9 section and spreader therefor; Fig. 6 is a the sections in place, aspreader member 13 -is provided to impose further gripping action of the beads against the flanges of the rim. This member is of substantially U shaped form, having on each terminal a tenon 14 fitting into a mortise or recess 15 in a beaded .portion of the tire-section. The 'mortise or recess of each beaded portion is preferably made by forming a slot in the end of the mate'rial before it is bent over against itself, in the formation of the bead 12. The spreader member is made someever, to etlicient] the tire-sections, of which Fig. 4

tration, and'in which each section in the one side and another what stronger than the tire-section and of less diameter than the section, and has a spring action to force its ends againstthe beads of the section andto spread them out against thewheel-rim. The spreader is disosed within the section with enoughspace between it and the tread of the section to permit of the treads depression under us ual circumstances without engagement therewith. However, when excessive strain is imposed upon a section, its undue depression resulting therefrom is stopped and breakage prevented by its coming into contact with 1ts spreader which then acts as a buffer.

In the form shown in Fi 1, 2, and 3, and just described, the bea seat directly opposite to each other in the wheel-rim, and this form is satisfactory in comparatively light service. In order, howsupport very heavy loads and to withstan' the exacting conditions of hard usage to which the larger and more weighty road-vehicles are put, the invention also contemplates an oblique disposition of IS an illusrotation of the wheel, rad'ually receives and relinquishes weight, t us obviatin sudden depression and release. The spree. ers used in the oblique arrangement are preferably disposed at about right angles to the circumference of the wheel-rim, as in the first form described, in order that there may be direct spreading exertion to. force the beads into wedged engagement with the flanges of the rim and to avoid the sliding tendency with respect to the rim which would exist if the spreaders were disposed obliquely with the tlre-sections. It will be obvious, of course, that in the oblique arrangement of the sections a spreader will engage one section on section on the other side. In the drawing, a spreader in enga ement with a section on one side engages 51c adjacent section on-the other side, but this is not necessarily always the case, as a. spreader might jump or span one or more sections,

s of a section a i dependent upon the'angle of obliquity of the i sections.

i The invention also contemplates a tire section formed of two or more supporting portions 16, similar as to seat sides and spreaders to the tire-sections already described, and connected by .a common tread portion 17, this form being illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. The sections are arranged with the tread portions in enga ement around the Wheelrim and the trea portions form a continuous tire adapted to heavy loads.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is- 1. A hol ow metallic tire hating beaded portions and recesses in and a spreader of substantially U-shaped form in the tire-havingtenons seated in said recesses, said spreader being arranged to force the beaded portions of the tire against the flanges of a wheel-rim.

2. The combination with a hollow tire having beaded portions formed .with recesses, of a substantially U-shaped spreader of spring material in the tire formed with tenons on its terminals, said tenons seating in said recesses, and said spreader being arranged to force said beaded portions against flanges of a wheel-rim. v f

3. A hollow tire formed with a series of recesses ineach of its sides, and a series of substantially U-shaped spreaders of spring material radially arranged in the tire, one end of each spreader being seated in a recess in one side of the tire and the other end being seated in a recess in the other side of the tire, and each spreader operating by .spring tendency of its material tospread its ends and thereby force the sides of the tire against flanges of a wheel-rim.

In testimon whereof I atlix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. Witnesses:

. ROYAL E. BURNHAM, CHARLES J. KAIPLER.

the beaded portions, 

